


Nothing's Fair in Love and War

by BaraLinni



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), And a guest appearance by our favourite Donny K ;), Canon Compliant, M/M, Past Lives, Suicide, Tomoshipping, extension of canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 17:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13058403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaraLinni/pseuds/BaraLinni
Summary: “Just promise me that you’ll come back”.“You know me, I always come back”.





	Nothing's Fair in Love and War

The letter could not have come at a worse time. The war against Vector was over, but the Islands were in turmoil after the many horrible battles. Countless people had lost their parents, children, friends, and loved ones, and it had drawn a curtain of grief across the whole country. Durbe may not have been born or raised on the Islands, but he had grown close to so many people during his numerous trips there. And now, most of them were…

Durbe was assaulted by a grief as sudden and forceful as a lightning strike.  _ Merag _ . He let a couple of tears fall before he stubbornly held the rest of them back and quickened his steps. He had to be strong. People needed him to.  _ He  _ needed him to. He paused outside the closed door, gripping the letter in his pocket and taking several deep breaths, as well as drying his eyes and cheeks for good measure, before gently pushing it open.

Nasch was exactly as Durbe had left him; curled up on his side on the bed and facing the door. Nasch gave a weak shadow of a smile at the sight of him standing in the doorway, and it took all of Durbe’s self-control not to throw himself across the room to be by his side. Instead, he walked - alright, cantered - until he could kneel by the bed and push his fingers into Nasch’s disorderly bangs to keep them out of his bloodshot eyes. He wasted no time in covering Nasch’s face with soft kisses, and felt his heart swell almost painfully when he received a tired but genuine smile. Pressing one final kiss to the bridge of Nasch’s nose, Durbe stood up to crawl over Nasch and lay down beside him. Nasch immediately turned over and they twined their arms around each other, pressing close and breathing in the other’s familiar scent.

Durbe would have been content to stay just like that for the rest of his days, but the urgency of the letter was pressing at the back of his mind, and the parchment felt as if it was burning a hole through his pocket. He took a deep breath and decided to simply get this over with. “There was a letter from back home. The war is going badly, and I’ve been summoned by the king”. Durbe realised he had not looked Nasch in the eyes while he said this, and hurriedly raised his eyes to gauge his reaction.

Nasch’s eyes looked - if possible - even sadder and redder, but he smiled in an obvious effort to put up something akin to a front. “Then you must go”, he rasped with a voice left utterly ruined from crying, and Durbe had never felt more guilty in his life. Before he could hurl himself into an endless spiral of apologies and thoughts of deserting his King, Nasch spoke again. “I’ve never made you choose, and I won’t this time either. Just…” he trailed off to wipe away a tear and sniffled. “Just promise me that you’ll come back”.

Durbe smiled softly and pressed a slow kiss to Nasch’s quivering lips. “You know me, I always come back”.

~~

The next morning was the first time Nasch had left his chambers in several days. Wrapped in a cloak despite the beaming sun, his puffy eyes followed Durbe's every move as he secured the equipment on Mach’s back. The brave front Nasch had tried so hard to keep up the evening before was quickly crumbling, decaying more and more with every knot and tightened buckle beneath Durbe’s hands. Even standing right next to him, Nasch felt as though he and Durbe were farther apart than they had ever been before. Without thinking, he latched onto Durbe’s belt, holding on tightly as Durbe turned slightly to give him a remorseful look before turning away again. Any other day, the plain guilt showing on Durbe’s face would have made Nasch do everything in his power to help Durbe feel justified and confident in whatever actions he had taken. But right there and then, Nasch was ready to grovel and beg as long as Durbe did not go. “Please, Durbe”. His throat was sore and his voice was raspy and shaky. He swallowed. “Please don’t go”.

Durbe didn’t so much as glance at him, but Nasch recognised the way he tightened his jaw. He was hesitating, questioning. This gave Nasch the motivation to become even more persistent.

He tightened his grip on Durbe and stepped closer. “Please, Durbe, stay here”. When Durbe still did not look at him, Nasch ducked beneath his arm to press their bodies and lips together. Durbe could no longer pretend not to notice him, and Nasch took the opportunity to finally look him straight in the eyes and breathe a request across his lips. “Stay with me?”

Nasch could see the cracks in Durbe’s resolve begin to deepen and spread before he was pulled forward into a kiss. Nasch pressed their bodies closer and held onto Durbe’s clothes desperately, trying to explain through body language exactly how badly he needed Durbe to stay. He felt Durbe begin to pull away, and moved with him, keeping their lips locked together until Durbe suddenly turned his face away.

He had made up his mind. Nasch took a deep, shaky breath and felt his eyes straining as new tears began to run down his cheeks.

Durbe’s posture softened when he noticed the tears, and he lifted a hand to caress Nasch’s face. “It’s my sworn duty to heed my king. I’m sorry”.

Clinging onto him for dear life, Nasch stared at him with pleading eyes. “Then take me with you!”

Durbe smiled sadly. “I also made it my sworn duty to ensure that you never see another battle again, so I can’t do that”. Before Nasch could protest, Durbe had gently pried himself out of his grip and had swung himself onto Mach’s back. Had he stayed in that warm, familiar embrace a minute longer, he would have completely lost his resolve and done whatever Nasch asked of him. Durbe knew that, but the hurt expression on Nasch’s face made his regret almost feel tangible, and he had to concentrate all of his willpower into not jumping back down to hug Nasch and never let go, especially when Nasch suddenly latched onto his leg.

Looking up at him with desperation clear in his reddened eyes and tears dripping from his chin, it was all Nasch could do to whisper hoarsely. “You’re the only one I have left”.

Durbe felt his heart break in that moment, and against his better judgement, he leaned down low enough to kiss the tears from Nasch’s face. He didn’t resist when Nasch turned his face upwards, and they shared one last, long kiss before Durbe pulled away, gently caressing Nasch’s cheek. “I  _ will  _ come back to you, I promise”, he murmured before straightening his back and kicking his heels to make Mach take off.

Nasch was left on the ground to stare as the white spot in the sky shrunk and disappeared. Just like every other time, when he had watched in sadness and wonder. Only this time, his heart was only filled with dread.

~~

Nasch was running. He was running faster than he had ever run in his life, and so fast that it rightly ought to hurt, but it didn't. Nasch wished that it would hurt. He wished for anything that could take the place of the horrible unfeeling emptiness that seemed to be eating him alive. So he ran. He might have slipped and gotten back up to keep running; he had no way of knowing.

At last, he stopped running, simply because there was nowhere to run. Looking around, he realised that he had ended up in the top of one of the castle towers. He heard a rustling sound, and looked down to find that he was still holding onto the letter. The black seal spoke for its contents, but he had to make sure. He tried to breathe in deeply, but wasn’t sure if he managed it, before he tore open the small scroll. The language was as foreign as ever, but three words he did understand: consolations, Durbe, and…

Quietly, calmly, he rolled up the parchment and clutched it to his heart while he headed for the small balcony with surprisingly confident steps. Durbe was never coming back. Durbe was dead. Everyone whom Nasch had loved was dead, and  _ he _ had let them die. It only made sense for him to die too.

Without blinking, he climbed onto the railing of the balcony. Looking down at the ground, so far away, and feeling the sun and the wind on his face, Nasch could not think of a single thing that might make life bearable. Fully content with his choice, he stepped out into thin air.

And left on the balcony stood a man with a cloak like stormy clouds, and threw back his head in distorted laughter.


End file.
